VoiceThread A to Z: Three Storytelling Lesson Designs

This is our third post in the VoiceThread A to Z series. In the first post, we discussed ways to use VoiceThread for early semester activities and in the second post we discussed creating presentations. This post will focus on incorporating storytelling into your curriculum. Upcoming posts will focus on other innovative lesson design and assessment ideas. Stay tuned!

Which types of courses can use storytelling as a lesson design framework? People typically assume storytelling is confined to creative writing or literature courses, but stories can be a part of any course. Let’s take a look at a few creative VoiceThread storytelling examples:

Language Instruction

In this thread, the instructor is working with students who are learning to speak English. He begins a story and asks his students to make predictions and co-write the ending of the story in their new language. This design not only assesses whether they understood the vocabulary used and the overall story concept, but also helps him evaluate the students’ pronunciation.

Speaking and Writing Skills

In this thread, a 1st grade student wrote an original story and then uploaded screenshots so he could narrate the story for his class. The student not only learned how to write a story in 3 acts, but learned new technology skills and got to practice speaking via a read-aloud.

Turning any Lesson into a Story

This is a lesson comparing databases and search engines for research purposes. That content doesn’t seem like a natural fit for storytelling, but the instructor framed the lesson as a battle between the two approaches. He created a question in the minds of his students and that question helps create engagement.

These are just a few lesson ideas that you can bring into your class this year. If you have other ways to incorporate storytelling into your VoiceThread lessons, let us know in the comments below!